Power Rangers Lightning Collection Wave 11 review

It's been nearly half a year since I reviewed the last wave of Lightning Collection, isn't it? Well, time to fix that! This new wave not only starts two seasons but also adds more content to two already prominent seasons. We've gotten the debut of Wild Force and Dino Fury with the Lunar Wolf Ranger and Dino Fury Red, respectively; as for Dino Charge and Zeo, the Pink Ranger adds a new member for the former season while the Cog makes another slight variation of a foot soldier for the latter, respectively. I guess there's not much else to do for Zeo beyond the villains and Auric the Conquerer, but Dino Charge could go for some additional Rangers even after we get the Blue Ranger. Until then, let's take a look at the new additions to the line!

Here we have the Lunar Wolf Ranger. This suit is translated as being slightly translucent (a common trend Hasbro does to represent metallic or shiny characters instead of using metallic paint), and it's a pretty good method of translating the suit's coloring. The blue also flows nicely with the rest of the suit despite being slightly flatter by comparison, and the gold paint apps do pop nicely save for the one paint mistake on the left glove cuff. One thing I like about the suit design was the asymmetry with the blue taking over the right side of the body, with a portion of the chest and the right arm having the color; even the gold stripes (which are the proper amount) look nice on the suit), and the Howling Wolf symbols nicely applied. It is worth mentioning that the toy initially had white boots instead of silver, which wouldn't look too out of place despite being inaccurate.

The helmet looks good for the most part, though it does look a little thin than I'm used to seeing on the show. Maybe that's how it is, but at least the blue paint apps as well as the white visor outline and the red eyes look good. That one tooth on the visor does have some slightly sloppy paint, though. As for the articulation, it has the norm that we have seen before with the line, he has a ball joint at one part of the neck and a hinge at the other, butterfly joints, shoulders that move front and back as well as in and out, swivel at the biceps and double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels, hands that hinge in and out, and both a diaphragm joint as well as an ab crunch. Hips move front and back as well as in and out, thighs swivel, knees bend at two points, boots swivel, and the feet hinge up and down as pivot at the ankles. Oh, and the inside of the leg pins do not have silver paint to blend them in better.

As far as his accessories are concerned, he has two alternate clawed hands, a civilian head, a typical effect piece, and two versions of the Lunar Cue: One in sword mode and another in blaster mode.

The display options are nice as always, though the likeness to Merrick is probably a little different than I remember? He looks a little bit like the face Shrek has in the second movie but more fit. That being said, the Lunar Cue is neat to own considering how it's not just a sword that turns into a gun, but it can also turn into a pool cue, which is pretty rare to reference in Power Rangers.

Now you can try to sort of fake a pool cue mode for the weapon but it may not be as effective as one would hope since it's not in the exact format. Also no finisher effect piece or Animal Crystals, 0/10 /j. Anyways, for a comparison with previous versions of the toy, here we have him alongside an original Wild Force toy of the same suit and the Super Megaforce Action Hero in the 5-inch scale. I think the Bandai duo does the coloring better than the current figure, but it is no secret that the Lightning Collection feels more definitive in terms of articulation, proportions, and accessory count. Though I swear he was supposed to have a holster. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Next, here we have Dino Charge Pink in-hand. The first female Ranger in the team to be made in the line, she may initially not be too different from the others in terms of suit details or whatever else has been done in the past with the team, from the chest detailing to the use of silver on the belt, glove, and boot cuffs, etc; however, if you look at the elbows and knees, they are now pinless joints! She along with the Lightning Collection Ninjetti forms of the Rangers (as far as I know) are the first figures to not have their joints pinned; this may come from the fact that the elbows on the females were not originally double-jointed until now, and while at first, it may seem like she would receive the treatment due to the texturing on the Dino Charge arms having more texture on them than other seasons, but it turns out that it will be a regular thing now that the upcoming Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger will have that benefit, too. Beyond that, she continues to have the same missing silver paint for the gloves as well as black paint for the bottom of the boots, but at least her belt is painted properly compared to the only mishap in the form of Dino Charge Black.

Helmet is very nice to have as always, especially when we get to the comparison with the basic version made in 2020. The white outline and the yellow representing the mouth go so well and completes the look. Also commend the paint apps being applied nicely here. Her articulation, apart from the double-jointed elbows, is the same, though one hand moves up and down instead of in and out.

As far as her accessories are concerned, she has the typical alternate hands, blast effect piece, and her own civilian head, but unlike the guys, she has a Dino Spike accessory instead of a saber...we'll get into what doesn't work with that.

The display options are nice for the most part, and the likeness to Shelby is pretty decent if you ask me. But while we already know how the Morpher remains unpainted from one side as well as bring up how she is the second member to have a gun effect instead of lightning as was the case with Dino Charge Black, the Dino Spike accessory doesn't work. In the show, she and the other Rangers have Dino Armor X mode, allowing them access to spikes on their right arms as well as a personal weapon that has the symbol on their chest. This portion of the Dino Spike, the Tricera Drill, may be nicely detailed, but it is missing the aforementioned arm spikes that cannot complete the appearance from the show. That wouldn't be as much of an issue, BUT the hand can't hold it properly due to how thin the handle is.

For a comparison extension to what was shown with the Triple Dino set, here we have the basic figure next to the Lightning Collection figure. I think it's unanimous that the new figure wins due to it having the more complete deco, shown with the added black lines on the chest logo, the red on the shoulder pad, the black interior for the belt buckle, and the most crucial details of all including the visor outline, triceratops logo, AND the arm texturing! Though I will say that the other version has better accessories.

And here she is with the rest of her team. We already know that there are minor discrepancies that are pretty irritating for the Lightning Collection, but it makes me so excited to finally have at least the main 6 Rangers in a proper display, especially since I never got the Action Heroes nor the Figuarts. I hope we can get the Blue Ranger ASAP, especially since he has been MIA. Maybe they can complete at least the main Dino Charge team AND start Ninja Steel with a Sudarso Brother 2-pack.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And now for the final Ranger of this wave, and it's from the most-recent team taking the spotlight, it's Dino Fury Red! This guy looks very good, and it's kind of ironic that I initially didn't give a rat's ass about Ryusoulger nor its aesthetics, but after accepting it being adapted into Dino Fury, I have warmed up to the suit designs and appreciate that while it reaks of similarities to Kyoryu Charge, at least Hasbro tried to make the season feel different from what was originally shown. The suits in the show typically consist of a zig-zag design to the center separating the main ranger color and the silver, which is now painted instead of being somewhat translucent plastic. Unlike the Lunar Wolf Ranger, the arm looks more opaque while still having some of the sheen one would expect from the suit design using the aforementioned color. And the gold accents are always appreciative. That being said, I hope subsequent offerings don't mess up on the alignment on the chest detailing and/or forget to paint the outline because the inconsistencies between team members in the likes of SPD and MMPR need to stop.

Helmet looks very good as always, and I appreciate that the details look aligned in the right spots even if they're not 1:1 exactly as shown with the more intricate visor being knight-themed and thus harder to work with than the average visor. And while the articulation is the same, I should mention that it is kind of annoying that the Morpher is unpainted but at least it will be unchanged for every character (and I presume Gold as well though it's been a while since I saw the suit in American footage).

As far as accessories are concerned, he has the Chromafury Saber, a civilian head, a lightning effect, and one right hand as well as one left fist.

The display options are a little odd with the hands, he looks like he's using the air-quotation gesture or is doing a salute, but the fact that he can store the saber on the holster is appreciative. I do wish that the bottom part of it was painted but I don't mind that it can't open (not like he can put some tiny ass keys inside). The likeness to Zayto is okay though not quite there; the hair should be darker and his eyebrows more prominent I'm sure a variant will be made with his antennae to represent his origins of coming from Rafkon instead of Earth. And as far as how he looks next to the Basic figure, they are both pretty good versions of the character al beit the Lightning Collection version has more mass to the body and the proper weapon.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

And now we have the Zeo Cog. This guy may seem unchanged from the regular version that came in the 2-pack, but there are a few differences between it and the regular version. Mostly with the gray; instead of being a normal silver, it's closer to gunmetal gray this time around, and the spotty pattern on the original is removed outright. Otherwise, the accessories are mostly the same as before.

The main reason you'd want to buy this Cog apart from the Armybuilding is because of the tonfas that Zeo Blue should have had. It's amusing how a foot soldier gets to come with Ranger accessories that should have come with the actual Ranger back in 2020?! God time flew by too soon...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Transformers Studio Series Galvatron review

For a while, I was going to review the AOE Galvatron mold as a way to look back on the history of the character design in plastic form while the Studio Series version would make its way to my house around 2023. However, plans changed because the preorder window was rendered nonexistent now that Galvatron arrived at my doorstep much sooner than anticipated, along with plenty of other Studio Series molds new and old. But aside from that, Galvatron's character design isn't always the easiest to nail when it comes to making him the most accurate version of the character in plastic. You have to consider his practicality into the mix, especially with the way his transformation revolves around splitting into a shitton of pieces and reassembling into either mode seamlessly. So while we can set that expectation aside, let's see how the new version of Galvatron turned out!

I didn't do this for a good while, but here is Galvatron's backdrop, depicting the destruction of long Kong where he would say they're ruining everything. I think either the first encounter with Optimus on the road or the KSI lab where he yelled his name and controlled the other robots would make more sense.

Here we have Studio Series Galvatron in his truck mode. This guy transforms into a Freightliner truck Argosy, similar to the type of truck Cyberverse Optimus turns into. It has a monochrome color scheme much like in the movie, though it does have some more colorful paint apps to make it more visually interesting with the headlights being in Allspark blue, and it is an appropriate use of said coloring. The truck cab's proportions are fairly spot on to the on-screen vehicle, though as we'll see, it won't be as easy to tell when compared to the various truck modes Optimus has in the original design. The sculpted details are also nicely done, from the rivets to the door and its handle. Some hinges are mildly distracting, and I don't think my copy's roof can tab in all the way, but it's a well-made truck mode nonetheless.

The major issue we have is in the truck mode stems from the trailer hitch having the feet hinged up into awkward kibble. Granted, the truck was never going to have a dedicated trailer for itself compared to Optimus Prime, but it's pretty awkward nonetheless, especially when the older toy stored its feet properly. Nonetheless, at least it's a little more excusable here than seeing the fucked up back of the MPM Beewun Prime. Oh, and it's interesting that the rear wheels are pinned while the front wheels are mushroom capped.

There is a little bit of weapon storage, with the missiles stored underneath what will eventually become the robot mode chest and the cannon being stored within the underside of the hitch, filling in some hollow gaps quite cleverly.

The missile pods can be placed in vehicle mode as well, recreating when Galvatron attacked Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. on the highway. You could try to mimic a similar thing to the arm cannon, but it's not as synergetic as with this.

For a truck mode comparison, here he is next to the original Galvatron toy made back in 2014. I don't know which truck mode is the more accurate of the two, but I like the look of the original truck mode more just because it looks a little more seamless, though this was always the stronger point of the original Voyager, with the new one having the hinges and truck kibble. I do like that the headlights were picked out a little more for the new toy than on the original, which were only picked out on the sunvisor. Oh, and the Studio Series toy is a little smaller than the AOE version.

Transformation is much more intricate this time around, with more of the truck mode being utilized for the robot mode in terms of folding parts inside out while also integrating the vehicle mode into the legs apart from the wheels; it's a much more interesting transformation than the shellformer aspect of the original toy. Granted, the execution is better than more egregious examples like the Trans-Scanning versions of Prime and Bee or Cybertron Thunderblast, but I prefer the new method that we have here. As for the resulting robot mode, I'm kind of mixed on certain parts of it. While I value the new transformation, the robot mode's proportions feel compromised as a result. The arms feel skinny in comparison to how massive the legs are, the torso feels flat, and the arms do look a little separated from the torso, too. It's certainly a departure from the original toy's proportions, which we'll get to, but if it means going for a more intricate transformation then I'll try to accept it. At least the darker grays combined with silver compliments the colors much better than the flat light gray of the old toy. And hey, the back of his Vortex Grinder is included!

Head sculpt is not only much sharper than the original toy, but it's also better detailed as well! For once, he has proper piercing red eyes that don't look like they were compromised by light piping that was scrapped! As for his articulation, the head is on a ball joint, shoulders move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels, elbow bends, a waist swivel new to him, hips that properly move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, knee bends, and ankle pivots! His cannon is smaller than the original toy, and while the silver paint is nice, I don't like how it doesn't blend in with the rest of him as well.

For a robot mode size comparison, he's slightly smaller than the original toy, but maybe the wonkier proportions might work for him since he better captures the CGI model. Also, my Galvatron has had silver sharpie painted that doesn't look as shiny as the current toy due to age. And while the proportions are a little more seamless on the old toy, the new toy looks a little less rigid by comparison. And yeah, the old toy's cannon does better hide the hand, but he ends up looking a little clunky. At the very least, no backpack included.

And here we have Galvatron & the KSI Boys together, with Stinger taking KSI Sentry's weapon. I wonder who else would deserve a spot in the Studio Series line? Anyways, Galvatron is a pretty interesting addition to the line. While he's slightly smaller than the old toy and has a few weird proportions, the better made transformation, extra paint apps, and slightly improved articulation make him a much better version of the character overall. And if you want that old mold as another character, JD Red Knight fills the gap.  

 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐